Psalm 146:2 I will praise the LORD all my life; I will sing praise to my God as long as I live.

Can You Trust World Vision?

This was the title of a video that caught my eye on youtube.com. It was posted by Living Waters and the gentleman being interviewed on the subject was Ray Comfort. This was of no surprise to me since this is the same man who bashed my church live on air when As You Are Church first opened 11 years ago. They got a hold of a video we passed out to the neighborhood, a video about coming to church “Just As You Are”. They didn’t bother to find out what we believe in or confront our pastor as scripture instructs. Instead, false conclusions were drawn about our message and church. They twisted the message from COME As You Are to STAY As You Are. These are two very different things, by the way. My Pastor reached out to them but never got the chance to defend or explain the truth of who we are.

I have been a supporter and Child Ambassador for World Vision for many years. The work they do is amazing and I have seen it firsthand. A while ago, there was an announcement made by World Vision that they would no longer acknowledge Gay Marriage as a sin within their employees terms of employment. Their reasoning was that some Christian denominations have accepted gay marriage and they should let each person’s actions be regulated by their own church body head. At no point did the World Vision president say that they stopped believing marriage was between one man and one women. The very next day the decision was retracted and an apology was made. He was confronted by other Christians and then repented. I was on the phone when the apology was made by Mr. Sterns and, through the tears and anguish, the President of World Vision admitted he was wrong and asked for forgiveness. The Bible is very clear that we are to forgive and rejoice when a brother repents. But I guess some Christians think they can decide where and when to apply these scriptures. Especially when it appears that we are God’s defenders.

That last thing Jesus did before he ascended to Heaven was pray that we would be one just as He and God are one. He said the world would know us by our love. Not just our love for the lost, poor and afflicted but our love for one another. I pray that we Christians will start to see the work of the crafty and cunning enemy who has authored this division. I pray that we Christians will start to evaluate ourselves more honestly before God and realize we do not have the right to condemn one another in such a way without taking the Bible steps laid out in Matthew 18:15. “15If your brother or sister sins, go and point out their fault, just between the two of you. If they listen to you, you have won them over.16 But if they will not listen, take one or two others along, so that ‘every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.’17 If they still refuse to listen, tell it to the church; and if they refuse to listen even to the church, treat them as you would a pagan or a tax collector.”

We have decided to judge the way other Christians carry out God’s commands; How they care for the poor, how they love the lost, how they tell others about Christ, etc. In this we are only trying to justify ourselves. We will all stand before God one day and answer for our part in His Body. How did we care for the part we were assigned and for the other members of the body who God chose to unite us with. Imagine having to explain to God that we cut off a hand because it wasn’t well manicured or a foot because it wasn’t wearing the right kind of shoes. This is how silly these condemnation “ministries” are to me. There are so many ministries out there actually representing God by doing what He has asked. I thank God for ministries such as World Vision. I will continue to volunteer proudly.